INVESTIGATING THE LEGAL ORIENTATION TOWARDS SUICIDE IN CASES OF WOMEN WITH BATTERED WOMAN SYNDROME

ANOUSHKA MUKHERJEE

STUDENT OF NALSAR UNIVERSITY OF LAW, HYDERABAD

Best Citation – ANOUSHKA MUKHERJEE, INVESTIGATING THE LEGAL ORIENTATION TOWARDS SUICIDE IN CASES OF WOMEN WITH BATTERED WOMAN SYNDROME, 2 (4) & 1 of 2022, IJLR

ABSTRACT News of women committing suicide due to the constant abuse they suffered at the hands of their partner often paints our news headlines. In such cases, the judiciary becomes the last resort the bestow some semblance of justice to the woman, whose screams, till then, went unheard.  This paper aims to analyse the legal perception towards the act of suicide in such cases. In pursuance of the same, the paper shall trace the origins of suicide laws in India with respect to Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as IPC), analyse how it shapes the courts’ understanding of the act of suicide and how this understanding then reflects in cases of women committing suicide due to Battered Women Syndrome vis-à-vis cases registered under Section 306 of the IPC. The paper also aims to propose an alternative orientation to suicide in such cases and address its possible implications with respect to punishment for the batterer.